


On the Outside

by Author_Chan06



Series: Joker and Antic [3]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Arkham Asylum, Bombs, Eye Gouging, Gen, New Friends, Robots, Unresolved Emotional Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:34:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27584824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Author_Chan06/pseuds/Author_Chan06
Summary: It’s finally happened. Sure they’d talked about it, but now it’s time.Joker was caught, again, and thrown into Arkham, while Antic was able to flee, now she has to help him get out, while she keeps herself safe. She can do this.With the help of a few new friends.
Relationships: Joker (DCU)/Bruce Wayne
Series: Joker and Antic [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2016530
Comments: 3
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

It’s finally happened. Sure they’d talked about it, but now it’s time.

After about 6 months of their partnership(?) with each other, Joker was caught. Or course this was a normal thing that used to happen almost weekly. But now that Antic was around, not only did she help him get away quit often, but it also gave him more reasons to be even more crafty, more cautious. But they both knew it was inevitable, he was The Joker after all, and his dance partner was Batman.

So eventually he slipped into his more careless mindset, and fucked up one, little, small flick of a knife. With anyone else they would never have noticed, their eyes nervously flickering with different emotions. But Batman has seen, and within seconds had handcuffed, roughly pushing him into the Batmobile- He’d try to argue that it wasn’t called that for years, before he had caved and started calling it that himself- leaving Antic watching from a nearby rooftop.

Her shoulders shivered, as she pulled her coat a little closer, nuzzling her face closer to the warmth.

She needed to get back to base. They had already went over this a multitude of time so this should no big deal. She knew his habit of coming in and out of custody -even before he killed her parents- but for some reason, her mind was frozen too. She felt odd. Sluggish maybe?

He would get out. He always did. He would. It was a fact. She knew it. He knew it. Hell, even Batman knew it! So there’s no reason to worry. But...

He is her only friend. She sometimes wonders if he cares about her, or if he just thinks she’s useful and when she outlives that he’ll just throw her away, or even kill her. But then he does something, something that doesn’t help with a plan, something that really means something to her and all that doubt just disappears.

So even if she has to die for him she will. He means too much for her. She would save him without a second thought.

After all, he saved her when even the Bat couldn’t.

* * *

The knife hit the target with a ‘thump’, sticking to it easily. Letting out a hum, Antic pranced over to the dummy, and yanked it out. “3 out of 5...Definitely not good enough. I need to be as close to perfect as possible.” She cracked her neck, eyes sliding over the blade in her hand.

Her feet thumped on the concrete, as she walked over to the door. Slipping outside, she easily jumped up to the fire escape, making her way onto the roof.

She liked it up here. It’s one of the reason Joker had picked this as her home base. That and the fact the roof always made for a good getaway- it was one of the things he had been slowly teaching her, and she was really great full.

They had started out with small crimes. He taught her to shoplift, then to pickpocket, then how to throw a knife, and fire a gun. Her crimes were slowly adding up, and she was pretty sure there was a bounty on her head already, at least for the fact she’s Jokers protege.

The idea made her kind of excited.

A click of heels jolted her from her daydreaming. Spinning around, her knife slid out of her sleeve, fitting snuggly in her hand.

“Who are you?” Luckily for her she was able to steel her voice. Another thing they had been working on.

”Don’t worry I’m not going to hurt you. That would mean I had a death wish after all...” That sounded like praise, and caused her to smile. A warm feeling lighting up in her gut.

”Then what are you here for?” The other girl brushed a hand through her black hair, before winking at her.

”I’m here to help! Joker’s in Arkham right now, right?” Antic here nodded. “So, I’m gonna make sure you stay safe, and start working on a plan to get him out. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but this is probably a test for you.” 

”A test...? The stranger nodded, stepping forward again, and laying a hand on her shoulder.

”Yes a test. To see how long it takes for you to get him out of Arkham.” Their eyes met, as Antic slowly lowered her arm - still keeping a firm grasp on her knife. “Everyone knows he cares about you, sees you as his daughter.” The stranger chuckled. “-Really threw the therapists for a loop, they thought he was incapable of love, and all that.”

”Why would they think that? I mean...He likes me, and he likes Batman.” Antic muttered under her breath about the dumb people.

”It’s cause he loves differently- but that’s another conversation we could have another time. Instead, let’s start with the planning.” Reaching out, the girls hand hung in the air. “Nice to meet you Antic.” 

She smiled, reaching out as well, after she searched the girls brown eyes. No malice or secret intent found, she shook her hand.

”Name’s Faye. Though you can call me Dead-flow, it’s my code name.” Faye let go first, planting her hands on her hips, and letting out a hum.

”Code name? Are you playing...or something?”

She giggled. “No not exactly. I’m an assassin. Is the name cool? I didn’t really like it but well...I’m not the most creative person ever.“

Antic smiled, eyes shining, as she let out a laugh. “No no it sounds cool, it’s great!”

”Well that’s good! Alright...So it’s time to get to work on that plan, alright?”

”Yep!”


	2. A Little Friendship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls get to work on a plan to get Joker out. And bond along the way.
> 
> Oh and they see Batman.

Antic decided she could trust this girl, for now, and if the other girl wanted to attack then she would gladly retaliate.

So her knife stayed stashed in her shirt and her spare in her boot. Her hand pulled her coat closer around her body, a small smile on her lips. She hummed.

Her eyes followed the other as she walked, only a few feet ahead. Just far enough they wouldn’t trip over each other. Faye’s hands were tucked in her pockets, it looked like she was fiddling with something. _It could possibly be a knife_ , Antics mind supplied, different thoughts beginning to cloud her head and giving her all sorts of scenarios.

 _It could be a knife for protection_ , maybe she thought Antic would attack her? _Or it could be for attacking?_ Was she going to betray her? _Or maybe it was just out of habit._ If she’d been on the streets for even a few weeks it seemed a likely idea.

Hm, she supposed it didn’t matter to much, as long as it wasn’t pressed against her she wouldn’t take the knife from her. After all, that would be hypocritical!

Antic heard a tiny thump behind them, causing her hair to stand on in. _The Bat...?_

She nervously nibbled on her lip, eyes warily gliding over to the shadows, before letting out a silent sigh.

Normally this would be when Joker would burst out into song, or throw a knife, or maybe he would pull out a phone and take selfies with her - He really liked putting on a show, always being different - and then Batman would come out and do his spiel about how Joker should “Give the child back” and “Come back to Arkham” before her teacher would make some innuendo, talk about love, and then slip away in some quickly made chaos, dragging Antic with him, as they both laughed hysterically.

But right now she was alone. _Well_ \- she supposed - _not exactly alone._ But what should she do? She needed to alert the other girl, if she didn’t already realize, and get away fast.

She let out a small hum, her feet slowly tapping in the ground. Out of stepping rhyme, and highly noticeable, meaning she had to hope Faye knew what it meant and the Bat didn’t. Which she was doubtful about - more about Batman not knowing than anything else.

She seemed to understand, footsteps wavering, and hands clutched into fists.

”Hey Antic?” Her voice broke the silence, sounding louder than it was in the dark night. It caused them both to flinch.

”Yeah?” A small shadow flickered at her right, disappearing when she blinked. He was definitely here. _Creepy_. He really was part of the night, huh?

”So, what’s Joker like when you’re alone?” Antics blinked, eyeing the other curiously.

”Thats a weird thing to ask...” She muttered. 

_But maybe it would distract Bat-Bat? If he’s even a little as interested in J as J is in him it could work...?_

Figuring she understood, the child gave the question some thought. “Well I guess he’s the same he is in public. Except more mellow. Since he’s not trying to impress the Bat, or in the middle of a plan he doesn’t have to be _as_ dramatic. But he’s still kind of dramatic. Especially if he’s telling stories! He’s a really good story teller.”

The girl in front stopped, turning around with a small laugh. “I could totally see that. So that means he’s told you stories? Where they cool?”

Antic nodded. “They were awesome!” Giggling, she started counting on her fingers. “1) Right after he was ‘born’, at the chemical vat, and met his soulmate - it’s Batman by the way. 2) One of the times he took control of Arkham. 3) The time Riddler beat the Bat and he helped heal his wounds. 4) And lastly, the time where he got the Bat to laugh! Of course those are the short versions, but they’re awesome stories!”

”Does he talk about Batman often?” Her hands buried themselves back into her pockets, pulling out her gloves and shimmying them on. She offered another pair to the black haired girl, but she declined, pulling out her own, and waving them at her.

“Oh yeah! All the time! He said they’re soulmates, and I believe him! I mean, I’ve seen Bat-Bat quite a few times already and they definitely have chemistry! It’s like standing next to a blazing fire!” Faye hummed, newly gloved hands turning a knife over in her hand - _Ah so she was right about that!_ \- before giving her a smile.

”Well I should let the others know about that they’ll be ecstatic - well some of them will be.” The girl laughed.

”How come?”

”They have bets! On if Batman likes Joker back or not. I, since I’m smart, voted he did, but some just couldn’t believe it. Which means some of us are winning some money over this!” She smirked, pointing to herself. “And one of those ‘some of us’ is me!”

Antic fake pouted, eyes shining. “Aw I missed out! I can’t believe I missed out on such an easy bet!” Letting out a giggle, she spared a small glance at where she figured the Bat was. “And I can’t believe some people thought Bat-Bat didn’t like - no love - him back! I mean it’s so obvious!”

She sweared she saw a flinch in the shadow, causing her to laugh a little louder. “It is obvious isn’t it? What did you say? Soulmates? I fully agree. Totally soulmates.” Faye crossed her arms, face as serious as she could keep, as it twitched under the strain of keeping that way.

”Yep! They complete each other!”

Another flinch.

This time they both lost it. Laughing together as the Bat seemed to realize he’d been caught. Antic reached out, the girls steadying themselves on the other, as he approached.

”Both of you stop. I have to take you two to the GPCD. You’ll find good homes, I’m sure.”

The girls frowned. Antic sighed, turning towards the black haired girl, and pointed at the Bat. “I’ve heard this way to many times already and I’ve only been with Joker for about 10 months!”

”Not very creative, I see...” The orphan nodded, eyes flickering between the two, before she realized something.

”Hey! You’re both blending in to the dark! Does that have something to do with you assassin bis-businu-!”

”I think you’re looking for the word business?” She blushed.

”Haha, yeah it just slipped my mind.”

Faye smiled, poking her in the shoulder. “And yes. It does.”

”Uh...girls?” They flinched, as the forgotten vigilante made his presence known again. “Come with me, and I’ll get you the help you need.”

Flicking her wrist, a knife slid effortlessly into her grasp. She gripped it tightly, a smile on her face, as she hid her hands behinds her back in the dark. “Who said we needed help? We’re perfectly fine! See.”

Her new helper seemed to have pulled out her own knife, both staring the Bat down, waiting for him to move.

They had the advantage, and they knew it. Batman was sure to go easy on them, he didn’t want to hurt children after all. While they could give it their all and then some. Youth really was an advantage it seemed, and she was gonna use it up, until there was not a drop left.

They were right. The Bat looked between the two and sighed, pulling something out of him belt-thingy.

Her mind raced, doing one of the things it was best at and assessing everything all at once.

She was 30 feet from the edge at her right and at her left the edge was about 50 feet away.

The Bat was 40 feet away, and his belt-thingy looked to have at least 10 different compartments. In the dark it was hard to tell, but she could sort of see some of what was in it. Some shark repellent - Why??, about 6 smoke bombs, a couple batarangs, something that looked like a circle - it could probably unfold into something, but she wasn’t sure what, and she saw some cuffs, they looked basic but you could never really know with the Bat.

He also seemed to have a com link to someone, and she hoped they were just a home base helper.

And her partner in crime was about 5 feet away to her left.

Immediately her hand reached back, taking stock of her own weapons.

Some smoke bombs of her own, a poison knife - it ,of course, was in a case, she didn’t want to poison herself after all!, a few throwing knifes, Oh - ! - she still has some non deadly Joker toxin from their last stunt, and lastly she had a device of her own making.

And just like that she had a plan.

She smirked, pulling out what she needed, before tossing a glance at the other girl. ‘Follow my lead’ She mouthed, gesturing to the right.

Once she got a nod, a smoke cloud immediately erupted in front of them. She dashed towards the edge, reaching out and pulling Faye with her. Hearing the vigilante starting his way to them, she threw a few more, and added some knifes, chuckling them where his torso met his neck.

”Hey, Antic, What’re you doin? This is a 10 story drop ya know?!”

”Trust me! I know what I’m doing! I’m Joker’s protege, remember?”

The girl nervously reached out, grabbing her hand, and then they leapt.

The brunette quickly covered the other girls mouth when she yelled. Using her other hand to throw the device she waited until she heard a click, before letting out a sigh of a relief.

They both landed on the net with a ‘womp!’ staying down for a moment in slight shock.

Antic was the first to recover, grabbing the others hand and crawling towards the closest window. Once it was opened, she pushed Faye inside, before diving in herself. On wobbling legs, she kneeled next to the window, grabbing the edge of the device, to yank it free.

”So...where did you get that thing?” The other girl asked, watching her click a button on the net and pull it in. The net retracted with a hiss, turning back into a block the size of her palm.

”Oh, haha, I made it.”

The girl froze. “Wait, you ‘made it’?” She nodded, putting the cube back in a pocket of her jacket, and looking up at her in confusion.

”Yeah? I thought it was a cool idea, so I asked Mr Joker if I could make it, and he helped me find the supplies. So I, ya know...” She gestured towards her pocket. “...Made it.”

She blinked, looking at the child in amazement. “Wow...that’s actually really impressive! We can totally use your smarts in our planning!”

”We can?”

”Yes! It’s exactly the thing we need!” Antic blushed, laughing quietly.

”A-alright...Well then, where do we start with this plan?” She smiled. “Wait! I know! We need a name!”

”That wasn’t exactly what I would start with...but sure! What do ya have in mind?”

Faye sat down on the couch, and patted a spot next to herself. “Hm...How about...Chaotic A.F. rescue? - Haha - get it?” The assassin sputtered as she was pulled towards the girl.

”Y-yeah, it’s funny, I like it!” She laughed, before she held out her hand. “Can I see the net-device-thingy?”

”I just call it a Block Net, it’s not creative but it works.”

Flipping it over in her hands, she smiled, eyes glimmering. “You have to make more inventions! You’re really good!”

”Alright! I’ll do it!” Antic giggled, and pulled out - from who knows where - a notebook. She flipped through, allowing the others girl to take a look.

”These...these could be super useful!” The assassin let out a gasp, stopping in the middle of her flipping and pointing at one, specific, invention blueprint. “This one! We should make this one!”

”I’ll have to go get the materials...Wanna come with?” Antic looked over at her, eyes shining, as she held out her hand.

Faye smiled, grabbing her hand, and pulling them both off the couch. “Of course! Let’s go!”

* * *

“If we go this way it’ll be easier-!”

”Yes but it would take forever, we need to do this quickly.”

”I know, I know...Except we don’t want to get into a fight! There’s no way we would be able to beat them!”

”Correct. Which is why we’re sneaking. Pick your battles, right? This is one of those times. No fighting. Get in, get out, all stealthy like.”

”I-...alright. Fine. We’ll do it your way.”

Antic huffed, causing Faye to smile. Rolling her eyes, the assassin reached up, and yanked.

Steady.

She gave the other a thumbs up, before she pulled herself up. The ladder creaked but other than that seemed safe. More noise behind her told her she was being followed.

They both got to the roof without incident, which was slightly alarming in its own right.

Antic had though there would have been traps, or at least guards. _But_ , she supposed, _I shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth_. Although she was still fairly certain there would be later. Unless Penguin was getting careless, and from what she had heard, he was anything but that.

”Alright, there’s a vent that leads down into the warehouse, up ahead. It’s a far drop but if you brought what I said to, we can just use it to lower ourselves down.” Faye called over her shoulder, trying to keep her voice as quiet as possible. They still weren’t sure there wasn’t guards, after all.

Her partner only nodded in reply, following her across the roof, and helping her yank the vent cover off. With a small small huff, she connected the rope to the top, and yanked.

Satisfied, Antic quickly wrapped the special rope around them both, positioning them so they both had a hand on the rope. “Alright. I have it secured. Ready?”

”Ready as I’ll ever be.”

With that out of the way, Antic pulled her along, and jumped. Her hand clamped over the others mouth, since she knew she would yell, as they plummeted down feet first. She curled her legs up, poking the other to make sure she did the same.

She could see the ground rushing up to meet them, and hastily clicked on to button. The rope tensed, pulling them up again slightly, before it began to drop them, slower this time. Faye let out a sigh of relief, her mouth now free, as the other had dropped her hand to hold onto her waist for more balance.

Once their feet touched the ground, they both hurriedly started unbuckling and pulling at the contraption, not wanting to be caught stealing from the warehouse.

They split up immediately, following the plan, Faye went left and Antic went right. Searching through all the boxes, they tried to stay as quite as possible.

The child rummaged through another box, letting out a groan when it wasn’t there. Nothing. Where were they? She shifted over, yanking the top off another, and peering in. 

Her face lit up, and she yanked a metal sheet out of the box, dropping it next to her with a loud ‘clank!’

”Shouldn’t you be careful with that?” Faye asked, turning to her, and holding open her own box.

”Nah! It’ll be fine, it’s super strong! That’s why I picked it. I only need a few sheets of the metal, four will do...” Her eyes scanned her prize, hands dusting off invisible dust, until she felt satisfied. 

“Here you go, Antic. There’s some more in these ones.” The assassin pointed to her left, and watched as the other made a mad dash to said crate, sitting the top to the side, and yanking out the metal.

”Are ya gonna help or...?” Faye blinked, before she seemed to come out a trance, blush rushing onto her face as she scrambled over to her new friend. 

“Sorry. Lost in thought.” She nodded, giving a small smile, and changing the subject for her.

”We need to get these over to the vent so I can hook it up. One of us is gonna have to go up before it, while the other stays down to hook everything up.”

”Wait...but then how would the second person get up?”

Antic giggled. “They wouldn’t.” The other gaped at her. “I just’ll have to sneak out on the ground level...I still have some weapons left anyway.” She waved a dismissive hand. “I’ll be fine. But we need to hurry.”

She seemed like she wanted to argue for a moment, but instead she just nodded, grabbing hold of one of the sides of the metal and straining to pick it up. The other girl quickly followed her example, helping with the other side. They shuffled over to the vent as quietly as they could.

”Are you sure it can carry this? Will it be too heavy?” A flash of pride showed in her grin.

”Of course, I got special rope, and I added some _stuff_ to it. It’s basically unbreakable!”

Faye blinked. “What kind of stuff?” But instead of an answer all she got was a giggle. She would tell her later. Ooh! Maybe she could show her instead?!

Would that be a good thing for new friends to do? Or was something you do after your closer? Friends were confusing. She’d have to ask someone later. Not right now though, she had things to do.

She reached up, setting up the device and listening for the clicks that said everything was in place. Nodding to herself, she handed the other part to her friend. “Alright. Just hook that in yourself and press that button, it’ll pull both up, and when you get up there, go to the edge of the room, where it connects to the next and wait.”

”Alright...” The other girl muttered, already distracted by hooking the odd contraption around herself. “Did I do this right?”

Antic nodded, and she waved once before she clicked the button. She was immediately pulled up, not too slow, but definitely not fast either.

Standing for a moment, the girl made sure her friend wouldn’t freak, and took another glance around the warehouse. It was still, thankfully, empty. But she wanted to make sure Faye would be safe, so she stayed.

When her friend was close to the top, and basically fully out of view, she finally started to leave.

She darted towards the door. No guards. Huh. Suddenly she heard the tapping of shoes, and a body slammed in hers.

Unlike the Bat, the rest of the criminal underworld was _not_ going to go easy on her because she was child. While some would of course- most didn’t care.

She fell to the floor with a groan. Trying to move, she felt, fascinatingly, that whoever this was had pinned her down, and her hands were already splayed a over her head on the cold ground. A chill darted from her fingertips down her spine, and she shuddered softly. She should have wore a jacket.

”Ya scared, kid? ‘M bettin’ all those folks were lyin’.” She blinked. Sometimes she forgot that right now she was the talk of the town. Criminals or not, she was a heavy topic.

”Not scared. Just cold.” His hands tightened, voice changing into something she figured was supposed to be scary.

”Oh yeah? Ya seem scared ta me. Tell me kid waddya think of the criminal word? All ya ever hoped for?” Shifting, her feet raising at the knees, _keep him talking..._

“It’s great. Lots of fun.” He scoffed, l digging his hand lazily into hers and pushing at the skin with his nail.

She licked her lips, eying the escape ladder she’d been planning to use to get up to meet Faye. The stranger was oblivious. Good.

”Really? That’s only cause ya have a big guys protection, without it ya would hate everything about this life!” She frowned, tending her hands to check the handcuffs, kind of creaky, old, but will be easier to pick though.

For now though...She bucked up, before kicking the guy in the head, with her legs basically upside downs her aim isn’t it’s best, but she stills gets target. 

He lets a groan of pain, falling sideways, which she uses, hopping for a moment as she pulls her knife out of her boot, and towered over the man. She can’t see much of him - he’s wearing long sleeves, pants that go to his ankles, long socks, boots, and a mask - but she can see he’s well enough built, with a bit of weight on him. So he used that in his fights.

She was the opposite. She was small and tiny, but that gave her advantage’s too. She could get around better, go places others couldn’t, she was fast, and was great at assessing the situation.

”I think you’re projecting a little, man.” She snickered, walking over to him. Dazing up at her blearily, he still seemed to have enough sense to try and move. 

“I’m just tellin’ ya the truth.” Antic frowned, before she leaned over him. She knew what to expect, and she was right, easily able to dodge the punch he threw at her head. She dug the knife into his stomach, a smile gracing her lips as he let out a groan. His hand came up to stop the bleeding, but she wasn’t done.

“You know what, I really _don’t like_ how you’re talking to me!” Her eyes went ablaze, as she reached back, pulling out a couple knifes. He gasped, his body swaying from blood loss, and she hummed, one of the knifes dragging itself down his face, not breaking skin, just to intimidate. “I do like this life, quite a bit actually. You’re right about one thing though, I do have protection! Buts it’s not only J, no-no! I also have friends...Although, I’m sure that’s a foreign word to you right?” She laughed, pushing a little on her knife, and watching with rapt attention as his skin split, his eye quickly shut, allowing her to continue down to his cheek. A drop of blood fell from the wound, and she used her other hand to catch it.

Her features morphed again, eyes finding his in the dark, and she stuck the bloody finger into her mouth. “I’m sure you don’t really need two eyes right?” As the implication of her words settled in, it was too late for him to react. He tensed, body spasming, while she reached in with her hand, pulling and pulling until a sickening pop sounded in the open sky, and he cried out, tears and blood rushing down his face, and mixing into a red river.

She rolled the eye around in her hand. Call it _morbid curiosity_ if you want. But it was beautiful. She’d always liked eyes, so important. Yet so _vulnerable._ It was really counter productive and dumb, she had thought. But now...

She grinned, looking back up and the bawling man.

She figured it was a good thing. After all, how else would she get this beautiful one? Oh, it’s green! She is _so_ keeping this!

A laugh bubbles up in her throat and she turned back up to give the man a compliment. Only to find him bleeding out and glossy eyed. She pouted, but after a moment she just gave a lazy shrug, and turned, going up the latter and showing off her prize to her friend.

* * *

Turns out, Faye wasn’t as quick as she’d been to like the eye. But after a quick second to heave, supposedly to keep her dinner down, she _actually did_ seem interested. She’d held it and turned it around and around, as they walked over the roof.

”This is actually...pretty cool. So you said you pulled this out yourself?” Antic showed her hands, the blood shined slightly in the moonlight, and she shook her hands, flinging it around. The other girl giggled. 

“I did! It just seemed pretty and the guy was already dizzy from blood loss, so I just figured - Why not? Kind of like a prize!” The other smiled.

”It’s a pretty cool prize. Left or right?” 

“Left!” She smiled, giggling quietly. Faye handed it back, making sure not to mess it up, while she tried not to drop it with her dripping hands.

”Nice!” They paused in their walked, before they both sped up. When their feet left the rooftop, Faye let out a yelp, but other than that they were both all smiles and giggles.

After a few more jumps and some turns, the girls made it back to the apartment.

This time they went through the door, and dropped the metal quickly. Antic huffed, pushing at the materials, trying to put it in the middle of the room, on the table.

”God, this is heavy!” She groaned, eyes flicking up to the other girl, that was clicking on the tv. “Little help here?”

”Fine, fine...” With a sigh, Faye put on a reality show, threw the remote onto the couch, and walked over to her friend.

With a little effort - and a few close calls - they sat the metal on the table, sitting on the couch, and trying to catch their breath.

”That was difficult...” The assassin muttered, eyeing the metal with slight annoyance, before turning towards the other girl. “Are you gonna start working now or later?”

“I still need the chemicals...You said someone would be delivering them here right?”

”Yes. He’s a friend, and should have everything you need.”

She smirked. “Including the flamethrower and all its lovely little safety equipment. The other nodded.

”Yep! I made sure to tell him all you’d need.”

”Good...”

After that the room fell into an awkward silence, only being broken by the barely heard tv. Antic looked between the door and the girl, waiting. She wasn’t sure what exactly her new friend was thinking of, but with her frown and the way her eyes were clouded, it obviously wasn’t very pleasant. Should she do something?

But, what exactly could she do? She had nothing to distract her with. Except...

Her face broke into a grin, as she yanked out another of her inventions, and thrust it at the other.

”Wha-?” Antic shushed her, gesturing to the small device in her hand, with a giggle.

”It was the first thing I ever made! I’d snuck around at school, and stole all the material. I had it hid in my closet and a while after I became an orphan I went back to grab it!” Her eyes shined, excitement and fondness evident in them, as was the pride.

She was very proud of her little device.

”Is it dangerous...?” A small shake of her head, let the other stop tensing.

It was about the size of her palm, made of a silver metal - she couldn’t actually tell what - that felt less than pound in weight. It was a perfect circle, the rim painted green, and a smaller circle that was a little thicker than the rest sat in middle of the disk, colored purple. She flipped it over, running her hands over the smooth area.

”What does it do?”

”You see the middle part that’s elevated?” She gave a nod. “You can push it down, but after you push it down throw it into the air, you’ve have 3 seconds.” Doing as instructed, she pushed, and chucked it into the air.

It started to fall for a moment, until it stopped, hovering in the air. “What can I do for you Ma’am’s?”

Faye startled, eyes bugging out, as she watched the thing. “W-what the fuck-? It can talk?!”

”Language-!” She giggled. “But yes, it can talk and a lot of other things. I worked on this for years...” A fondness was in her eyes as she gestured towards the drone thingy. “It has many different functions, and since it’s so small it can fit in my coat. I never go anywhere without it...”

”...What can it do...?”

”It’s a Multiple Function Drone Helper. Or MFDH for short. I call it MultiDrone.” She stood up, laying her hand out palm up, and the assassin followed it with her eyes as it glides itself over to hover above her open hand. “MultiDrone, list some of your functions, and capabilities.”

”Yes ma’am. I can talk, I’m able to fly over 500 feet, and as far as 3 miles away from my keeper. My data responder is fastest in the world, answering questions, and following orders in less than .003 seconds. I have one of the largest data bases in the world, and am able hack into the ones I don’t. How I’m made allows me to move silently into small spaces, which makes me good at spying. I also have speakers, so with a special my keeper has I’m able to be spoken out of. My keeper has also allowed me to play music, and with certain attachments I’m able to help build difficult inventions and clean a house in minutes.”

”Wow...” Faye muttered, she locked eyes with the other girl in excitement. “That is...awesome!”

”Wait! There’s still one thing!” The girl smiled, reaching into her coat and pulling out an even smaller disk. “MultiDrone, open compartment 4.” A click sounded and the middle raised area slowly only an inch, but enough for her to be able to slide in the other disk. “You can close it now...” She muttered, and with a whirring noise, it complied.

”What did that do?”

”It’s my newest addition to my little drone!” Turning back to the robot, she poked it waiting for it to adjust. “It’ll give it emotions...Of course it’s just a start, so they’ll be basic emotions but...I figured it would be nice, and it could be a...friend.”

Faye blinked. “Isn’t that impossible?”

”Of course not. Nothing is impossible.”

Suddenly the robot whirred a little louder before it quieted down. “Hello, ma’am’s... Thank you for the emotions pack...”

The girl smiled, grabbing the other by the arm and pulling her towards the drone.

”No problem! Oh this is exciting! I’d been working on all this for months!” She giggled.

”It’s really cool indeed.” Her friend slowly edged her hand towards it. “But if it has emotions shouldn’t we give it a name?”

”Oh yeah! You’re right!” Letting out a hum, Antic looked at it, hand still sitting on her friends arm. “Hm, Bot-Buddy can you pull up a list of androgynous names?”

”Of course...” She smiled. “Some popular androgynous names are Charlie, Perry, Frankie, Robin and Jackie.”

”I don’t know what to pick...” She turned to the other girl, silently asking for her to help, which caused the girl to giggle.

”Just ask it. It just got emotions, so this will a nice way for it to try them out.”

The robot whirred in response, and maybe she was projecting but it seemed to like the idea. “Alright. MultiDrone, what name do you like most?”

”I-...I like the name Frankie, and I would prefer if you addressed me as a they/them please?” Both girls gave a nod, smiling at the bot brightly.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door, Antic immediately had a knife in her hand and the drone was ready to help as best it could - they didn’t have their hand extensions in but well they could try - and Faye had her own knife, longer than the others but darker, all black as night.

The assassin stalked to the door, opening it with a click, before throwing it open.

On the other end of her knife was a boy, about 16 maybe(?) in an outfit almost identical to Faye’s, covering most of him, and all black. He had on boots, but his gloves could be seen poking out of his pockets. His blue eyes shined with mischief - which Antic wasn’t sure made her feel safe, and she quickly gesture for the robot to scan him - and understanding. While his hair was a dark black, hidden partly under a slightly less dark hat.

”Sorry bout that Faye, should’ve figured you’d freak.” Said girl let out a sigh, blade clicking closed.

”You really should have... But I shouldn’t have rushed at you with a knife thought, sorry.” He winced, rubbing at his neck, and taking a look at his hand.

”Nah, it’s fine. Besides...” He flipped over his hands, with a smile. “It’s only a little blood.”

”Speaking of blood, Antic you never washed off your hands.” Looking down in surprise, she found that the other girl was correct.

She let out a giggle. “Sorry guess I was just excited.” Then she took off to the bathroom. 

It only took a moment, and then she was walking back to the living room with a smile. Her eyes sharpened as they landed on the stranger, smile becoming a little more tense.

”So...Faye, who’s he anyway?” She spoke, as she stopped next to the other.

The boy decided to introduce himself, cutting off whatever the other was going to say. “I’m Alan, nice to meet you Antic.”

That still didn’t fix her distrust. She didn’t really know why she felt this way, she’d been pretty quick to trust Faye, but she just... _couldn’t_ trust him. “Frankie, tell me the scan data.”

”Name: Alan Taylor; Age: 14; Has a long list of crimes, but had escaped custody, and pleaded insanity; Current Job: He is a freelancing assassin; It’s where he met Ms Faye; His family isn’t around, and he lives on Bulpark road. Would you like a more detailed data scan?” She gave a hum, the knife slowly closing as she listened.

Ok, so she had no _real reason_ to distrust him...

Alan chuckled awkwardly, shifting around on his feet, until the other assassin turned to him. “Why don’t you sit down?”

”Oh? No that’s alright! I have some work do tonight, but you asked for some chemicals and so...here.” Pulling something out of his coat, he brandished it to her, and this time she was the one to chuckle awkwardly.

”Those are for Antic, she’s making a device to help get Joker out of Arkham.”

”Ah...” He quickly pushed the items into her hands anyway. “Well here you go. I really should be going though-“ Antic let out a released breath.

”Nonsense! Come on Alan! You both need to meet and talk. I’m always telling you to make new friends, and this could be your chance!” Before the other girl could interrupt, he let out a sigh.

”Fine, I’ll stay for a while...But not long, I still have work.” 

As Faye cheered and started moving around the metal, trying to get a good angle, and running off to grab blankets and pillows, the other two locked eyes.

A fire burned between them, as they both seethed. Burning up their surroundings, until they were alone in a fiery hellhole. His mischievous eyes were placid, but moving, her own brand of insanity boring into him, looking through his soul, and peeking into his mind.

They both seemed to agree on one thing.

_This person is not to be trusted._


End file.
